A MLM business is a business, not another job

Many of us who join a MLM business find it hard going despite what we thought would be a seemingly easy way to make money as explained in the presentations that we attend.

Let us look at some of the issues that help to explain this.

a) Employee mindset

Many of us are employees of some organization when we sign up for this “wonderful part time work leading to full time income” opportunity.

As an employee, we are so used to getting or weekly or monthly salaries whether our employer made money that month or not. We don’t really appreciate the problems our employer has to bear and overcome so that we are paid.

As an employee, we do certain parts of our employer’s business, maybe it is in accounts, maybe marketing, maybe distribution or maybe production. Unless we are at the very senior levels we are responsible only for a certain part of the business.

Our MLM business on the other hand is a business. Hence we have to understand fully, take on and be responsible for the various parts of the chain of the business.

Our mindset will have to change from that of an employee to that of a business owner. Notice that I said owner, which is even more than a business manager.

b) Understanding the Product

For any business to survive there has to be a good business or service that people need. For us this would be the product that we market in our MLM business. Presumably we have thought well and deeply before we signed up as a “business owner”.

As the owner of the business, we should know and understand the product or service that we are selling. We should know it well as the back of our hand.

c) The Revenue Model

By this I mean, how does our business make money? In our case it should be the compensation plan. We should understand it well enough to explain it in detail to any of our prospects. After all this is the way our business is to survive.

d) Marketing

This is usually the killer. There are a number of options, but not all options may work for all people. First we have to appreciate that MLM is essentially a relationship business. I don’t agree with the idea of approaching anyone you know and when you are finished with that list, start approaching anyone within 3 feet of you.

People are not the same. The business opportunity that we find so exciting might not be for our uncle or our nephew or our classmate.

As a business with a relationship marketing model, we have to be able to know people. Study the people and tailor our approach so that it is attractive and acceptable to our prospect.

(We shall talk a lot more about this in succeeding weeks.)

e) Your upline

This is another important factor. Your upline should not be a “hit and run” character. If you feel that you have been “over sold “ and feel upset, the chances are that you in turn will not be able to create a sustainable downline.

You should evaluate your upline well. As mentioned, this is a relationship business. How well do you communicate with your upline? How comfortable do you feel with your upline? How much do you trust your upline?

If you can come up with a list of qualities that you want your upline to have, then you should work on having the very same qualities.

e) The other parts of the business

One of the great advantages of a MLM business is that the nitty gritty of the other parts of the business like production, inventory control and management are all taken up by the company. Hence reducing our burden and allowing us to focus on the above (a) – (d).

f) Conclusion

MLM business is just that…..a business. And there are no easy businesses. They call for knowledge, hard work, determination, planning and targeted marketing. For those who are willing and ready to take on these responsibilities, there is a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

In the meantime, to those of you who are interested, I do have anopportunity that may make a lot of business sense to you. It does to me. It’s a business opportunity for all Malaysians. It’s a way to earn passive income for Malaysians or a way to earn part time income for Malaysians.

It’s SCORE A, an online educational portal that now allows everyone to score!!!